Cornerback injuries holding back the Ohio State football team

The Ohio State football team has improved on defense greatly, but one area is still holding them back.

The Ohio State football team has done a great job of improving their defense so quickly from last year. They now have a top-ten defense and aren’t just an average defense. They are straight-up good. Even so, there’s one area of the defense that’s holding them back right now.

That area is the cornerback position. The corners this year have had their issues and it hasn’t just been one. Denzel Burke has regressed after a stellar freshman season a year ago and keeps getting burned for deep pass completions and touchdowns.

Cam Brown had his worst game of the season this past Saturday against Michigan State. He got burned and had multiple pass interferences called on him. Then when he was replaced by JK Johnson, he got burned for a touchdown too. Both of them were bad.

Injuries have played a role in this for sure as well. The Buckeyes haven’t had a week where they’ve had their full stable of corners available to them. Jordan Hancock hasn’t played this season. He was supposed to be the third cornerback in the rotation. He might make his debut after the bye week against Iowa.

Both Burke and Brown have missed time on the field due to injuries too. They haven’t gotten a chance to get some cohesion with this unit while playing in a brand-new system. That’s a big reason why this unit has struggled to start this year.

Ohio State needs to get healthy at this position. It’s critical for them to have everyone available and playing their best before they take on Penn State at the end of the month. They need this rest to get everyone healthy and practicing together so this unit has some sort of cohesion.

If the corners can get some sort of rhythm before taking on Penn State, they should play well. This is the only deficiency on the team right now, so imagine if they actually start to play well. That would make this the scariest team in all of college football.